Curve now has 0% foreign exchange fees

Dr Ross SlaterSeptember 20th, 2018

From today, (20th September 2018) Curve has lowered their foreign exchange fee to 0% (historically it was 1% of the transaction). This means that if you use Curve to spend on a Mastercard or Visa issued reward credit / debit card whilst abroad, you will be able to collect the rewards whilst avoiding the exchange fees of that particular card.

Therefore if you have a 0% FX card that does not give you any specific rewards, you should definitely consider getting a Curve Card. What more, even if you have a 0.5% cashback card such as the MBNA Horizon card, the Aqua or Tandem credit cards, using a more valuable rewards card through Curve, will give you a better return on your spending.

Curve currently uses the interbank exchange rate rather than the official Mastercard rate, giving you a slightly better deal. However, there is a weekend surcharge of 0.5% for £, $ and € (1.5% for other currencies) to reflect the currency risk taken by guaranteeing the closing Friday rate.

It should also be noted that Curve is imposing limits if you have the free card:

If you have the free Curve Blue card:

You can spend £500 per month in foreign currency at 0% FX, after which a 2% fee applies.

You can withdraw £200 per month from an ATM in foreign currency at 0% FX, after which a charge of 2% or £2, whichever is higher, applies.

If you have the £50 Curve Black card:

You can spend an unlimited amount (subject to a potential fair use charge of 2% beyond £15,000 per year) in foreign currency at 0% FX.

You can withdraw £400 per month from an ATM in foreign currency at 0% FX, after which a charge of 2% or £2, whichever is higher, applies.

What is Curve?

For readers who are new to Curve, it is a new payment method that allows you to combine multiple credit / debit cards into one, your Curve Card. This card is issued as a debit card (to allow for universal acceptance). You simply use the Curve Card as you would any other, and use the accompanying mobile app to select which account each purchase is charged to.

At present, Curve will pay you £5 when you try it. Simply sign-up with our referral code: 7UJ2B. You can download the app from the Curve website here.